its intimidating to go from eating whatever you want/have in the house/are craving/can get in your belly before you get out of the house, to the healthy organic and local diet you’re supposed to be eating, when you’re on the candida diet train. the keys are, PLANNING AHEAD, and COOKING AT HOME. it will seem to suck at first but it will save you so much time, frustration and not to mention, money, in the long run!

one of the things you are not supposed to have on the candida cleanse is pork and sausages and hot dogs. according to candidadiet.com, “pork cells contain retroviruses that survive cooking and may be harmful for those with a weakened digestive system. processed meats like lunch meat and spam are loaded with dextrose nitrates, sulphates and sugars.” dr. thomas anstett of naturalhealthbalance.com, the naturopathic doctor we are working with to develop our candida-control-diet protocol, says that hot dogs are ‘mystery tubes’ – we really never know what are in those things!

ive always been a meat and carb breakfast kind of gal. tbone steak and eggs, bacon and sausage and eggs with crispy hash browns, filipino breakfast with longanisa (a sweet, fatty pork sausage) with over easy eggs and garlic white rice, yum, all my favorites. but on the candida diet, pork and pork products are a no-no. the white rice, and potatoes too. but whew, the steak and eggs are safe. ha. but i had to make do with other sausage substitutes!

i went to birite market yesterday, got some ground organic diestel turkey ($5.50/lb at birite, $6.50-7.50 at whole foods), and paid about $5 for a vacuum sealed package for just under a pound of meat. ground meats are incredibly economical, and easy to prepare. you can stir fry them as-is to make a kind of crumbly taco meat texture to add to salads, eat on top of your candida-safe grains (like quinoa, amaranth, brown rice), or even throw into soups. or, you can mush them up with some seasonings and an egg, to make patties. mmm, turkey sausage patties for breakfast, yeah!

this morning i took the ground turkey and sprinkled onto it some salt, pepper, about a tablespoon of bragg’s organic sprinkle* (a 24-herb and spice seasoning blend) and cracked an egg into the mess. i then mushed up all the ingredients with my hand, making sure to fully incorporate the egg and mix it all up really well.

*bragg’s organic sprinkle technically contains carrot, which should be avoided on the candida diet because of its sugar content, but because i had already dumped it into the meat AND the amount of carrot in the herb mix is so slight, i think it should be ok to use once in a while – but base this on how strict you want your candida diet to be! in place of the bragg’s herb sprinkle, you can use pretty much herbs or spices you have in your pantry – italian seasoning is an easy one with herbs that are safe to eat on the candida cleanse. you can try thyme, rosemary, oregano, or even just salt and pepper!

i then took about 3-4 tablespoons of meat at a time, and threw them directly onto a nonstick frying pan on medium high heat, sprinkled some olive oil on top, and cooked them up like burgers. i gently squashed them a few times throughout the cooking process with a wooden spatula, so they’d be shaped more like patties than meat balls. this is so they cook more evenly, and pressing them helps the juices of the meat flow out, cooking the patties faster – also ensuring that the meat juices are fully cooked. you definitely dont want to be eating rare turkey patties!

then, i flipped the turkey patty babies over a time or two to make sure they were evenly browned and cooked throughout. i even cut one in half to make sure it wasnt pink inside. i took the entire package of ground turkey meat, and made about 7 patties. 1 to eat for breakfast today, and 6 more to eat over the next couple of days.

only 6 patties made it into the pan for the first round of cooking, so when these were done, i pulled them off the pan and put them in a pyrex dish for fridge storage. as the last turkey patty was cooking, i threw in a handful of spinach leaves in the same pan, so the spinach could get some of that juicy flavor, and heated up some quinoa, and over-easy fried an egg. i used a separate nonstick saucepan to fry up the egg, so that i wouldnt have to use more oil, though i probably could have done it all in one pan.

threw the quinoa, spinach, turkey patty in a bowl and topped it off with the egg, and seasoned it with a bit of black pepper and my favorite casina rossa truffle & salt (also available at birite market – super expensive but sooo worth it and it lasts forever!). INHALED this bowl of goodness, and washed it down with water. filled my belly up, and i dont feel at all bloated or heavy, like i usually do when i eat pork or rice or potatoes.

a few days ago, i just found out that 1 teaspoon of sugar is equal to 4.2 grams. christine and i have always told people, avoid sugar ESPECIALLY if you have a case of candida you are trying to eradicate from your guts. but exactly how much sugar was too much? it was hard to tell. but when i found out that 1 teaspoon of sugar = 4.2 grams, it helped me A LOT to visualize how much sugar is in the foods i come across when i look at the nutritional labels.

as you should already know, keeping the body’s inflammation levels down is a vital component to purging the acne from the skin with minimal inflamed acne – who wants to walk around with red, swollen, painful zitty zits? – as well as keeping the body’s internal systems functioning at optimal levels. inflammation has been linked to many diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, some forms of cancer, fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome among others, INCLUDING acne!

to put things into perspective:

one 12-ounce can of coca-cola classic has 39 grams of sugar = 9.29 teaspoons of sugar.
one 20-ounce bottle of vitamin water has 32 grams of sugar = 7.62 teaspoons of sugar.
VS
one perrier lemon/citron flavored carbonated water has 0 grams of sugar.

come out and support local woman artist and sS’er extraordinaire, susan o’malley at her second solo art show, my healing garden is green. kim is planning to be at the opening reception this coming friday, may 11 from 6-9pm.

here is the press info from the romer young gallery in the mission!

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ROMER YOUNG GALLERY
1240 22nd St., San Francisco, CA

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Romer Young Gallery is pleased to announce its second solo exhibition with artist Susan O’Malley, My Healing Garden is Green.” There will be an opening reception for the artist on Friday, May 11, 6-9pm.

O’Malley loves and collects inspirational sayings. She adores the crisp and authoritative language of optimism and the Zen-like messages of just being. She is drawn to the simple and recognizable tools of engagement – offering Pep Talks, installing roomfuls of inspirational posters, distributing flyers in neighborhood mailboxes, conducting doodle competitions at high schools – in order to offer entry points into the understood, and sometimes humorous, interactions of everyday life. Ultimately she looks for moments between herself and individuals in her life, moments which offer glimpses into the possibility of understanding one another better.

For her upcoming exhibition at the gallery, My Healing Garden is Green, O’Malley finds inspiration close to home. The artist writes: “With a strained hand my mom wrote My Healing Garden is Green after she was diagnosed with a rare and terminal neurological disease called Multiple Systems Atrophy. Her handwriting was just one part of the loss. Soon she could no longer do many of the activities she loved, like tend to her garden, work, or walk independently. Everything was happening very rapidly, so I asked her to write down phrases she always says to me. I think she wrote me things both of us needed to remember. The notes she wrote to me comprise this exhibition.”

The show will feature a series of handwritten phrases, a photograph, and an inspirational poster. Most importantly, the artist would like to thank her mom, Guadalupe Reina O’Malley. Not just for agreeing to make art with her, but for her endless inspiration on how to live: with love, grace and a sense of humor.

O’Malley received her MFA from California College of the Arts’ Social Practice Area. As both an artist and curator, she has participated in programs and exhibitions at Southern Exposure, Hardware Store Gallery, CCA, Mission 17, Curiosity Shoppe, The Lab, Headlands, SJICA and Ping Pong Gallery.

For additional information, please contact the gallery at 415.550.7483 or email info@romeryounggallery.com. Romer Young Gallery is a San Francisco based contemporary art gallery committed to showing regional and international emerging and mid-career artists.